Global Health

Health is of paramount importance to ensure the continued advancement and sustainability of all nations, both developing and developed. Especially in a increasingly interconnected and globalized world facing significant heath challenges, the importance of health transcends national boundaries and requires international cooperation of public and private entities.

During the first term the Global Health Policy Centre will examine Future Challenges for Global Health and how to prepare for their demands. A grey future lies ahead: most nations are now entering a new demographic transition, towards an ageing population. With WHO projections that by 2050 the number of people aged 65 and over will exceed 1.5 billion – this is 3 times the amount reported in 2010 – we currently live in a world that is overwhelmingly unprepared to deal with the upcoming challenges that healthcare faces. Moreover, with remarkably little known about how to effectively treat neurodegenerative disorders, commonly associated with ageing, this is a burden the global community is not ready to embrace. As contemporary strategies have insufficiently adapted to such challenges, we aim to devise applicable policy proposals on the necessary utilisation of health services to deal with ageing populations.

In the second term our Policy Centre aims to compare Global Health Policies of Nation States with Policies of NGOs and Private Entities. Despite the advancement of modern medicine, efforts at applying this knowledge effectively have been insufficient when needed. Recent crises and epidemics highlight the need for greater cooperation between all health actors, both state and nongovernmental, local and national government, and within communities. The recent cholera outbreak in Yemen is a prime example of how uncooperative approaches often fail with devastating results. Furthermore, overlooked areas of concern such as avoidable injury & mortality rates in surgery and misdiagnosis rates draw additional attention to the need for greater cooperation. Whilst there may be sufficient actors in place to deal with health challenges, our policies will aim to devise strategies on how such figures can interact to cooperatively combat the medical emergencies of the future.

As a student-led policy forum, the King’s Think Tank strongly welcomes and encourages student participation in our work. Our Policy Centre aims to be a platform in which you can discuss and express your invaluable thoughts and ideas through our policy-oriented events and in our biannual journal Spectrum. If you would like to be involved in any of our current projects please get in contact with me at pcpresidents@kingsthinktank.org.

I look forward to the insightful and productive year that lies ahead and have the utmost confidence in our Policy Centre and your involvement to help achieve our goals.